Chapter 30: A Woman's Intuition (Part Two)

In the end, it was Luo Xueqing’s gentle laugh that shattered the heavy silence.

With deep emotion, she looked at Yun Shuang and said, “Truly, you are a clever lady. Lianxin’s exposure was not undeserved.

Yes, my disappearance this time was a scheme devised by Lianxin and me.

Even I did not expect…” She could not help but let out a bitter, mocking laugh, raising her hand to gently press her chest, pausing slightly before continuing, “The husband I believed to be devoted and willing to spend his life by my side turned out to be such a hypocritical, disgusting man!

At first, it was only suspicion. At the end of last month, Fan Youliang told me he would be spending the night at the cloth shop reconciling accounts and would not be coming home. While preparing his clothes for the night, I picked out a blue set and a green set, asking which he’d prefer. He hesitated for a moment, feigned indifference, and said, ‘The blue one is fine. I’m only going to check the accounts, anything will do.’

Yet that moment of hesitation caught my attention. In the past, when I chose his clothes for him, he often didn’t even look, only gently telling me that whatever I chose must suit him best. Normally, he would never hesitate like that.

So, I grew more cautious. I had Lianxin see him off. When Lianxin returned, she told me that as the young master passed the pond in the courtyard, he glanced at his reflection and brushed back his hair. But if he was only going to check accounts, why would he care so much about his appearance?”

Fan Youliang’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Just because of that, you suspect I… that I have someone outside? You’d go so far as to set up such a scheme to test me?!”

Everyone present fell silent, uncertain whether Lady Luo or Lady Yun was the more formidable.

Luo Xueqing gave a cold laugh. “Of course not. But Fan Youliang, we have been husband and wife for years, together day and night. This is not the first time I’ve noticed these discomforting details. Still, we grew up together, and you have always treated me with gentleness and care. I convinced myself these were trifles, that perhaps I was just being paranoid.

But since my father passed, I have felt anxious and adrift. Every time those details surfaced, it was like a needle pricking me! After noticing your strange behavior at the end of last month, I couldn’t sleep the entire night. I knew then, I could not let these emotions go unchecked any longer. With my father gone, I had to learn to protect myself!

But you are always careful and cautious. As long as I remained by your side, you would never let your guard down or make a mistake.

So, I decided to make myself ‘disappear.’

Sure enough, that day, the county yamen searched our house. That young constable named Yang questioned you with suspicion, and you panicked. That very night, you sent someone—like a thief—to Yiyuan Inn. Even then, you were cautious; despite your anxiety, you knew not to send your close servant Changping. Instead, you randomly picked someone from the household, lied that you had business at a teahouse near the inn, and, due to my disappearance, couldn’t attend. You had him deliver a letter to the innkeeper to pass to your contact.

That night, a maid entered the teahouse, took your letter, and entered Yiyuan Inn!

If I hadn’t bribed a group of little beggars in town ahead of time, instructing them to follow anyone who left the Luo residence after my disappearance, I never would have found your little paramour!

How ironic! Only then did I discover that my good husband—the one who, before my father, vowed never to let a third person come between us for life; who, before me, spoke so devotedly of growing old together—had kept a mistress right under our noses, and for five years at that!

You didn’t know, did you? After leaving the Luo residence, I hid at this inn under a false name, seized the chance to obtain that woman’s handkerchief. The handkerchief found in the room yesterday was placed there by Lianxin at my request. I wanted your true face revealed to all!”

By now, Luo Xueqing was visibly agitated, her right hand clutching her chest, her face twisted with pain and hatred.

Lianxin hurriedly supported her, gently rubbing her back, tears brimming in her eyes. “My lady, do not be upset. That faithless wretch will surely go to hell! See how desperate he is—he’s even killed his own mistress. He’s finished this time!”

Fan Youliang, still reeling from shock, finally burst out, “Who said I killed her! Don’t spout nonsense!”

“If not you, then who?” Lianxin glared at him as if she’d tear him apart. “You’re the only one here with a guilty conscience! Clearly, you were both fearful and desperate, so you resorted to murder—”

“I did not!” Fan Youliang was now utterly panicked. “Zhenniang followed me all these years—how could I be capable of such a vile act? When Zhenniang died, your mistress and Chen Hao were also at the inn! Why must it be me who killed her?”

Lianxin’s eyes widened in disbelief, as if she’d just heard the most absurd thing. “You heartless scoundrel! Are you trying to say it was my lady who killed your mistress?! Why would she do such a thing? Everything you have now is thanks to our young master and my lady. Now that she’s seen you for what you are and has proof of your affair, all she needs to do is expose you, and you’ll be thrown out of the Luo family in disgrace! The Luo fortune will still be hers, and if she pleases, she could marry ten more husbands!

My lady would have to be out of her mind to destroy her future for the likes of you!”

“You—!” Fan Youliang, rendered speechless by Lianxin, could only turn his anger elsewhere. He glared at Chen Hao and snapped, “If not your mistress, then this Chen fellow! He’s coveted Xueqing since childhood. Ever since I married her, he’s resented me! He must have discovered my affair, harbored a grudge, and killed Zhenniang to frame me!

Yes! That’s it! Someone did all this just to ruin me!” He pointed madly at Luo Xueqing. “If that’s the logic, then your mistress had a motive to kill as well!”

Lianxin, seeing this scoundrel would not cease slandering her mistress, was about to retort again, but Luo Xueqing gently shook her head, lowered her hand from her chest, and with a mocking smile said, “Fan Youliang, how truly ugly you are now. If only you had known what today would bring.

I did not kill anyone, and I trust Chen Hao did not either.

But all of this is not for us to decide…”

She turned to County Magistrate Ding, bowed gracefully, and said, “I trust the county yamen will investigate thoroughly and find the real murderer.”

Magistrate Ding, finally seeing someone who understood propriety—and, more importantly, recognized the yamen’s authority—could not help but feel deeply moved. He straightened his back, nodded solemnly, and said, “Rest assured, Lady Luo, we will not let a single innocent person suffer injustice!”

With that, he turned to the rest of his men. “All of you, come here. Let us review the progress of this case.”